Why I Changed The Name of This Newsletter

And how YOU helped.

In 2023, when I first joined Substack, I called this newsletter Ripe Time.

Me, three years ago last month!

I was driven to talk about certain issues: how we come together for each other, what gets in our way, what we learned from the isolation of a pandemic. The Time was Ripe. For three years, that felt right...until it didn't. Those ideas still matter but part of what my memoir-in-progress talks about is how —no matter how deep you bury something or are told to put it behind you—the past is never really over. I want to talk about why that is, how it shows up and what we can do about it. People don’t know these things and they suffer because of it.

With my tighter new focus, I needed a new name. So a few weeks ago, I polled y’all for our weekly #FridayQuestion and asked you to vote on four possible names. Thanks to everyone who voted! Drum roll, please!—- Welcome to: Beginning Where You Are.

So here’s the name and focus - -

Beginning Where You Are explores how personal history shows up in everyday living.

Here's what you can expect:

1. A monthly-ish piece of writing about how our past shows up in our present. Like why what happens in Vegas never stays in Vegas. (Despite our wanting it to or being told to keep it there.) Or how family of origin, culture, class, gender or trauma history influence what we think|do. Or thoughts around how to respond with greater self compassion when something from our past trip us up. This isn’t speculation. My background includes 15+ years as a coach and trauma trainer.

2. I'll talk about trauma sometimes but the focus will be on understanding and managing as opposed to healing and recovery. We recover and heal from broken bones or the flu but people are inherently whole. No matter what you went through, I don't believe you are damaged or needing to be fixed.

3. The weekly open-ended #FridayQuestion that invites introspection and encourages comments and connection.

4. A free space that is community-oriented and trauma-informed.

So stay tuned if you are:

1. curious about how your past influences decisions, relationships, healthcare choices, intimacy, parenting and more;

2. a fan of tools, science and ideas about what could be different;

3. interested in self-examination;

4. a believer in the power of community and value of relationships;

5. a reader or liker of books because I love book talk!

And/But-

Please unsubscribe if none of this feels right. Seriously. Your time is too valuable. There's a better fit for you out there! Go find it.

Thanks very much for being here. Love, Elizabeth.

PS. If you’re new to me, head here for more of a full bio.

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Reading Recommendation:

Havoc by Christopher Bollen. The book is about an elderly lady, Maggie, who can’t help herself from “fixing” other people’s lives, as she flits from fancy hotel to fancy hotel. In Luxor, Maggie meets her match in precocious (or sociopathic) 8 year old, Otto, who also likes to play with people’s lives. Next up for Otto is…Maggie.

I have no compunctions around putting down a book. But Havoc is the first book I can remember reading that had me constantly wanting to drop it and also somehow still reading. (Listening, actually, because I'm still in Berlin and not buying any books.) None of my standard reasons (ordinary story, terrible reader, author not trusting reader, apathy for the characters, gratuitous sexual violence, etc) applied. But I kept listening, desperate for it to be over. 8 hours in, something clicked. What I felt wasn’t something off in the book. It was what I was supposed to feel: a deep unease. I was dreading listening because the suspense was so intense! I’m supposed to feel this way; Havoc is a thriller. Another plus of occasionally listening to books: how we take in the story can reveal something about ourselves. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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